SANTA CRUZ -- Stephen Nelson is not tall or imposing, but he's impossible to miss as he walks through the Homeless Services Center outside downtown Santa Cruz.

He's 5 feet 7 inches tall, 140 pounds, but Nelson, the center's community service coordinator, looks larger than life. It might be the silver hoop earrings, knit cap, and DayGlo orange vest with five pens in one pocket. Nelson can't walk 10 paces without someone waylaying him.

"I know 99.999.1 percent of all these people by name," said Nelson, who walks with a bounce, and varies his speech pattern for dramatic effect -- speaking so fast, you must concentrate on the words, or so softly, you have to lean forward.

"Hey, Twin," he shouts to a passerby. "That's one of two brothers, both here, both homeless. They were estranged. Now they're getting along again."

Nelson is something of a legend at the services center because of his work as a peer mentor and counselor, cleanup crew leader, night watchman and organizer.

Now the word is out. Nelson has been named this year's winner of the fifth annual UC Santa Cruz Tony Hill Award, which honors Santa Cruz County residents who exemplify the work of activist Tony Hill, who died in 2007.

This award honors individuals developing innovative approaches to solving social problems. Nelson will be recognized at UCSC's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation on Wednesday. The award will allow Nelson to designate a $500 donation to the organization of his choice.

There is always so much to be done, Nelson said, but receiving the award "makes me feel like I'm doing what I am supposed to be doing."

A life of service

Nelson, 58, appears tireless.

He and his team of homeless volunteers have logged an estimated 20,000 service hours in Santa Cruz. They've worked with the Museum of Art & History to tidy up the once-weedy Evergreen Cemetery and clean part of the San Lorenzo River levee in partnership with the conservation group Save Our Shores.

Nelson helps put on the community's free Thanksgiving meal and Project Homeless Connect, and created the Healing Circle, a group that offers comfort and support to homeless participants.

"Stephen displays volcanic energy combined with face-to-face warmth," wrote Megan Carlson, the Homeless Services Center's community outreach manager, in her letter recommending him for the award.

Nelson is also a minister who was ordained 28 years ago at a non-denominational church in Detroit and is associated with the Potter's Hand Ministry Center in Santa Cruz County.

His past substance abuse and homelessness give him unusual credibility and empathy at the services center. He started out as a homeless client at the center in 2003 before becoming a volunteer and a paid staff member. "I can assure them that there is life after homelessness, and hope can be revealed," he said.

Nelson's message is potent for those who struggle with homelessness and addiction.

"I don't lie to people who are trying to make the changes," he said. "I tell them sometimes it is going to hurt like hell. But hell could be no greater than the hell they are in now."

One of his letters of recommendation came from a Santa Cruzan who wound up homeless three years ago, an experience that left her emotionally and spiritually drained.

"As my mentor and friend, he has been a lifesaver," she wrote. "He has demonstrated that there is no 'us and them, staff and participant, male and female' when it comes to respecting others."

With Nelson's encouragement, she returned to college to complete her psychology degree "to help others regain their mental and emotional well-being."

Reversing the tailspin

Nelson was once a staff member at a dual diagnosis center in Michigan. Then he lost his marriage and left his job, he said. Homeless for the first time in Detroit more than 30 years ago, he entered a tailspin.

"It was about the bad choices I made. When I went into it, I thought of it as recreation, but it destroyed everything I had built."

Nelson talked about the "awakening" that took place after he moved to Santa Rosa, and found himself alone at a park at 2:30 a.m.

"It dawned on me that my life was in shambles and I had to fix it, so I called the Salvation Army." The mission helped him stop the drinking and the substance abuse.

"I was done," Nelson said. "I stayed there three weeks. I am a hardheaded guy so I did it cold turkey. I never gave up hope. I never thought my savior had forsaken me. When I sought help, it didn't make me feel short, nor did it make me feel tall. For once in my life, I just felt necessary."

The next step was putting his philosophy into practice by helping others. These days, Nelson tries not to get too overwhelmed by the tasks at hand.

"Every day I wake up and start work here, I don't go into this like I am going to fix homelessness," he said. "I just go into this hoping and praying on a spiritual level that they can help themselves."

The Tony Hill Award selection committee is also honoring Don Rothman, a leading voice for writers and writing during a distinguished 39-year career at UCSC. Rothman died in November at his Santa Cruz home.